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Hipster Hangout 2007: A blast from the past via the GDP Wayback Scr…

OK look, I don't know how to present this properly. This is NOT the resurrected thread, this is an intro to that thread, which is linked below.

The occasions of Joe's Birthday and last week's Homecoming 10th Annual Roundup reminded me that this fall is also the 10th anniversary of Joe's tenure as Gretsch Product Guru.

I remembered that because his first official event after taking the job was the Gretsch Hipster Hangout, sponsored by and held at the South Bend, IN headquarters of the old Music 123/Woodwinds & Brasswinds operation, in the last quarter of 2007 (I don't have the date at hand). This was an event I attended.

I knew there had been a GDP thread about it. Google quickly found the thread name, but in the aftermath of the Database Scramble, the contents of the thread were unrelated. A couple searches including guesses at actual content later, I was rewarded with the whole enchilada - the Hipster Hangout thread, but under the wrong heading (see database scramble).

Scroll down for the link, but first some observations.

• The Hipster Hangout report was the last active thread on the previous version of the GDP - before Bax rolled out this redesign. (Which means this month is also that 10th anniversary!)

At the time, I cut and pasted the existing contents of that thread into the then-new board, then continued the story. (This explains the odd formatting at the beginning. Do read through everything to get the whole report.)

• As the Hangout was the first time I attended an "official" Gretsch event - and met Fred, Mike, and Joe - in a sense it marks my first report on such an event. This led directly to my coverage of WinterNAMM 2008 a few months later - and that whole Gretsch-GDP phase of my life. (A 7-plus year run during which I was privileged to enjoy around 40 events all over the country.) Another 10th anniversary, if significant only to me.

• In the context of the way Roundups have evolved, it's a little spooky to read my decade-ago thoughts about GDP-ers meeting in person (Jeff-O and I got along just fine), and the concept of GDP meet-ups.

• This was the event at which I first saw a natural spruce-top Country Club (though I don't know if it's mentioned in my posts, as I don't think I'd realized yet it was an anomaly).

• I am reminded that with considerable hands-on attention to detail it would still be possible to methodically, painstakingly, gradually de-scramble the database. (I'm afraid devising an algorithm that would analyze the contents of a thread and then guess somehow what thread title really belongs to it would take as long as doing the work "manually.")

Woodwind/Brasswind in SB---I grew up a couple of miles from there, and had worked across the street. I bought two Gretsches and an amp there. It started out as a 30' wide storefront that sold brass, woodwinds, and classical guitars only. They expanded to include stores in NY, London, and Paris. I knew the end was near when the rare guitar section closed up and the warehouse was emptied out. Bought my Pro Jet there, but it was shipped from Music 123 elsewhere. They died when the Internet bubble popped. Sad end to a great music store.